


Blanket Fort

by Novaviis



Series: Watercolour [10]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Pillow & Blanket Forts, basically a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 19:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8726674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novaviis/pseuds/Novaviis
Summary: After Wally is outed by his parents, he finds himself thrown out with nowhere to go but to his boyfriend. Thankfully, Dick knows just how to make Wally feel safe and loved again. Never underestimate the power of a blanket fort and video games- even if they're really, really lame.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This bit takes place after The Bird and The Worm and Kenopsia. Eventually, I'll make a timeline in the series description because this shit is going to be all over the place.

It was 1:39 when Dick’s phone vibrated under his pillow. He was still half asleep when he pulled it out, cutting off the low volume white noise he’d fallen asleep listening to. The glare of the screen bursting to life in his face had him squinting as he slowly came to. Dick vaguely registered Wally’s contact info on the screen, the avatar photo he’d taken of him with a face full of cotton candy grinning back at him. “Hello?” he croaked.

“Dreaming of me, sugar?”

Something didn’t match up. Despite the flirtatious words, Wally’s voice was hoarse and subdued, uneven with a hitch on every other breath. Dick sat up, kicking himself free from the tangle of his sheets as he rubbed his face. “Wally?”

Wally sniffed on the other end. “How many people call you sugar?”

“One too many,” Dick replied as he swung his legs over his side of his bed.

“Were you asleep?” Wally asked. Dick hummed under his breath in affirmation. “I thought you’d be on your way back from patrol or something.”

“Not tonight. Gotta sleep some time.”

“Sorry.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, uh…” Dick could hear Wally swallow on the other end of the line. “My folks found out. So – debatable I guess.”

Pushing off the edge of his bed, Dick padded over to his window. His chest suddenly felt stuffed with cotton. “It didn’t go well?” Wally laughed dryly, muffled into the receiver. Dick sighed. “Right. What happened?”

Wally took a moment just to breath, trying and failing to even himself out. “It wasn’t like it was all at once. I was stupid, left pins from the Gender Sexuality Resource Centre at school on my desk, forgot to take out the trash when I had fliers in the bin, things like that. I only just started to go to the GSRC, but a few of my friends at school go all the time and they’re always trying to get me to come out and participate, show off my ‘Pride’ or whatever. Anyway, it was stupid little things. Not really enough to give anything away, or that’s what I thought. But then my Mom borrowed my laptop and found our skype convos, connected the dots, and she told my Dad, and they confronted me, and… it all just kind of snowballed from there. Right off a cliff.”

Dick pressed his forehead against the cool glass, looking out over the lawn of the manor. “What did they say?”

“Well, my Dad can’t believe his only son is a Fag. We got into it, he told me to leave, so I did.”

“You ran?”

“What I do best,” Wally’s voice cracked, like he was trying to swallow a sob. “I’m… I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty fucked up right now.”

Dick smothered down his own feelings of guilt for putting Wally in this situation. They could have been more careful. “Where are you now?”

“Outside Central,” Wally replied. “Just sort of started running toward the city.”

Dick’s gaze trailed to the distant glow of Gotham City’s lights against the overcast sky. “Come here. If you’ve got enough juice, you can take the zeta-tube to Gotham and run out to the Manor. If not, I can come get you.”

“I can make it fine. Thanks, babe,” the relief in Wally’s voice made Dick’s heart stutter. “You sure B won’t mind?”

Dick pushed off from the window, padding lightly toward the door of his bedroom. “I’ll talk him around. See you in fifteen?”

“Ten.”

Dick breathed a smile. “Kay.” With subdued goodbyes, they hung up, and Dick pocketed his phone as he headed down the hall. It was no difficult task, but he made sure to keep his footsteps silent and light. Bruce, even if he wasn’t on patrol, would likely be up at this hour, but Jason was asleep (or he was supposed to be). With Alfred, it could be either or, but the butler slept on another floor anyway. The Manor, though steadily gaining new occupants, was hauntingly still at this hour. The old beams creaked and moaned under their own weight. Dick made toward the Cave, as that was usually where Bruce could be found at this hour, but was surprised to find the light to the study seeping onto the floorboards from down the hall. Dick tapped his knuckles lightly on the door before pushing it open. The creak of the hinges sounded far too loud at this hour, amplified by silence.

Bruce looked up from his desk under a raised brow. Dick could see the way he looked at him- searching for an answer. He hadn’t done the whole ‘searching him out in the middle of the night’ thing in years, when he used to have nightmares about his parents’ fall. Those nights, he’d end up just silently padding into the study, taking a book off the shelf, and reading in Bruce’s company until he fell asleep on the sofa.

Evidently, Bruce could see that he was devoid of tear stained cheeks and hitched breath, which only left more questions. Dick tried to offer a sheepish smile. “Hey,” he whispered as he stepped inside. “Is it cool if Wally comes and spends the night?”

Bruce’s expression only twisted. “Now?”

“Does anyone in this house adhere to a normal sleeping schedule anyway?” Dick tried to laugh it off. Clearly, Bruce wasn’t buying it. Dick let out a heavy breath, pushing his hair out of his face. “His parents know,” was all he said for a moment. He swallowed, mouth dry. “He… got kicked out.”

Dick didn’t really think about how Bruce would react to hearing that, but the way he sat up straighter, shoulders stiff and jaw set said enough. Soft spot for kids. “Does Barry know?”

Dick shrugged. “Dunno. He didn’t say much over the phone after he told me what happened. He sounded upset,” his voice broke off.

Bruce nodded. Barry would find out by morning, whether he told him or not, and when he did there would be hell to pay. Bruce would be more than happy to help. “Wally is welcome here, then,” he replied.

Dick flashed a tired grin. “Thanks, Bruce.” With that, he turned toward the door. He barely made it to the threshold before Bruce’s voice called him back.

“Dick?”

The boy popped his head back through the door. “Yeah?”

Bruce spoke without looking up from his papers. “Your bedroom door stays open.”

Dicks’ face flushed, his ears burning. Caught. Well, he couldn’t exactly argue now could he? “Uh… you got it boss. One more question though.”

“Hm?”

“Where does Alfred keep the Christmas lights?”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Twenty minutes, it ended up being. The moment Dick heard the knock at the front door (quiet at this hour, for once resisting the temptation of the thunderous door bell it seemed), he was flipping and jumping his way down the grand staircase to the foyer. Pulling the heavy oak door open, Dick was met with his boyfriend standing on the front porch, the dried tear stains on his cheek glistening in the soft glow of the lights inside. Dick stood in the doorway. “Ten minutes?” he teased.

Wally shrugged. “It’s a nice night. Thought I’d slow down and enjoy the breeze.”

Dick nodded. “And are you…?” he couldn’t finish. Wally attempted a wide grin, and then he just – crumbled. His mouth quivered, chest caving in as he tried to hold back, to hold everything. He was imploding. Dick was there in a second, stepping out onto the porch and pulling Wally’s head down against his shoulder. Wally held onto Dick like a child around a comfort toy, fingers curling in the back of his shirt as he shuddered harsh breaths.

Dick didn’t know how long they stood out there like that, but by the time Wally was pulling back to rub his sleeve against his face, the cool air of the night had seeped through his socks and nipped at his toes. Dick places his hand on Wally’s arm, tugging him inside. The door shut with a heavy thud behind them. “Come on,” he whispered.

Together, the two of them made their way upstairs in silence, trekking down the ancient halls to get to Dick’s bedroom. Dick, however, hesitated outside the bedroom door, the somber expression he’d been wearing slipping into something bordering hope and excitement. “This is really lame, just a warning,” he said as he opened the door.

Wally stopped short in the doorway. Dick had transformed his bed into a blanket fort. Duct tape pinned layers of sheets to the ceiling, walls, and headboard to engulf Dick’s bed, the window, and the TV on his dresser in a cocoon of purple and blue. Strings of little white lights acted as support, illuminating the enclosed space and casting starlight on the fabric walls. A slow smile tugged at Wally’s lips. “Wow, Dick,” he breathed as he turned to look down at his boyfriend. “This _is_ really lame.”

Dick elbowed him playfully in the ribs. “Don’t pretend you don’t love it.”

Wally shrugged. “I love lame stuff. I’m dating you, aren’t I?”

Dick rolled his eyes as he crossed the room and pulled back one of the sheets to create a door. “Shut up and get in my fort.” Wally laughed, hand reaching out for the bedroom door before Dick’s voice stopped him. “Wait,” he said. “Gotta leave the door open, Bats’ orders.”

Whispering a quiet  ” _damn”_ under his breath, Wally obeyed and left the door ajar. He army crawled into the fort, keeping his head low as he dove for the pillows. As he flipped onto his back, stretching his arms out under his head, Dick followed inside and dropped next to him. “Not bad for twenty minutes, Bird Boy.”

“No, _this_ I did in ten,” Dick corrected. “Thought you were going to be here by then.”

Wally turned his head to his boyfriend. “What did you do with the other ten?”

With a slight grin, Dick sat up and turned to his nightstand. Tucked off to the side were two steaming mugs sitting behind a few bags of potato chips and Doritos, and a litre of coke. “Tried to recreate Alfred’s famous hot chocolate. It took me a few attempts, but I think I ended up with something that at least won’t poison us,” he said as he handed Wally one of the mugs. It had Green Lantern’s symbol on it – he’d bought it just to annoy Bruce. Dick’s had a cartoonish U.F.O on it.

Wally accepted the mug, taking in a long whiff of the steam rolling off the surface. Taking a slow sip, he nearly melted. “ _Babe_. You rock my world.”

Dick smiled over the rim of his mug. Success. Bracing a hand behind him, he leaned back and sipped at his own hot chocolate, watching Wally tentatively. The seventeen-year-old had slowly curled himself around the mug, back against the wall and knees pressed to his chest. Wally drank the hot chocolate quiet happily, but by the time he was three quarters finished, he was caught by his own muddled reflection on the surface. Dick frowned. “You’re not going to be able to sleep, I take it.”

A little surprised at the sudden statement, Wally could only look up at Dick for a moment before nodding in resignation.

Dick nodded in return. Taking another sip of his drink, he set the mug aside and crawled to the end of the bed. “I guessed as much. That’s why,” he grunted as he leaned over the edge and dragged up a game console, “I prepared.” Fiddling with the remote, Dick turned the TV on, momentarily blasting the inside of their blanket fort with bright blue light.

Wally squinted until the glaring light faded into the start screen. He laughed humourlessly as he set his own mug aside. “You really thought of everything, huh.”

“I tried.”

Wally’s eyes fell down to his lap. His voice went low. “I don’t want this to become a Wally Pity Party.”

Dick tossed him a controller – the neon yellow transparent one, Wally’s favourite. He shot his boyfriend a grin. “That’s why I won’t go easy on you.”

For a kid with a literal billionaire for an adopted father, Dick had a pretty outdated console. A _Game Cube_. He could have asked for any system on earth, on the market or off, even one of those new virtual reality headsets, and he still only had a Game Cube. _‘Shut up, it’s retro, I like it,’_ had been Dick’s retort at Wally’s teasing. Besides, the speedster only started teasing about it because Dick was kicking his butt.

So, Mario Kart and Smash Bros it was. For about two hours, they played circuits, trading jabs both verbal and physical. Dick threatened to break up with Wally about five times over the course of their games, most notably every time his thumb hovered over the button to deploy a blue shell. He sent it every damn time. Dick got him back by choosing Rainbow Road every chance he got. Through the night, the bags of junk food slowly depleted, their hot chocolate drained and replaced by Coca-Cola that more than once dribbled onto Dick’s duvet. It only made the state of the blanket worse when Wally decided, after a crushing defeat on Yoshi’s Island, to attempt to shove Doritos down Dick’s sweatpants. It had ended in a wrestling match and Dick pinning Wally to the mattress, the red head laughing for mercy and Dick claiming victory.

They played a few more rounds after that, until Wally had evened the score with a win on Bowser’s level. He tossed the game controller aside, flopping back onto the bed with a sigh. It was about four in the morning at this point, far from dawn still. It felt like it had been night for a week. It had been just after sunset when he’d run out of his house, hours before he’d calmed down enough to call Dick.

Seeing that his interest in video games was dwindling, Dick shut the console and TV off. He climbed over to Wally. Laying on his side, he draped himself over his boyfriend, head on his chest and arms wrapping tightly around him. Wally’s arms circled him in return instantly. They didn’t speak for the longest time. It wasn’t uncomfortable, or awkward. It was needed. Still, it seemed like an eternity had passed under the little white lights before Wally spoke.

“I’m not sure I have a home anymore,” he said, like he was thinking it for the first time. Dick’s throat constricted. Wally continued though, giving the boy in his arms a squeeze. “Except maybe here.”

Dick hummed under his breath. “You can stay at the manor as long as you nee-“

“Not what I meant,” Wally smiled dimly.

Dick propped his chin on Wally’s chest, staring up at him with something between a smile and a pout.  Wally’s eyes were catching the strings of lights, emerald green sparkling and still glazed with tears from hours of crying. Dick rose on his elbows, shifting on top of Wally just enough to kiss him properly. The speedster’s hand slipped down to the small of his back as he likewise slipped his tongue past Dick’s lips. When they parted, Dick tilted his forehead against Wally’s. “I love you.”

Wally’s heart did double time in his ribcage. This wasn’t the first time they’d said it. They had been on this level for a few months now, but still every time Wally heard those words, it was like the first time all over again. Wally smiled, surging up for another kiss – only for his grin to widen against Dick’s mouth as he let out a long “Gaaaaayyyyyy.”

Dick sputtered his indignation, trying his damnest not to laugh as he pulled back. His eyes narrowed, but in the end, he couldn’t resist that lopsided grin. “Yeah, you caught me.”

Wally snickered, his laughter fading off with a content sigh. He pulled Dick down to him again, burying his face against his boyfriend’s neck. Dick combed his fingers through Wally’s hair, listening to him breathing for a few minutes before he spoke again. “You wanna talk about it now?” he whispered.

Wally took a moment to reply. Just a nod. Dick sat up shifting behind Wally so that he could tug the red head onto his lap as he leaned back against the headboard. Wally complied with a heavy, shuddering sigh. His eyes fluttered closed of their own accord as Dick continued carding his fingers against his scalp. “Just… didn’t really expect it, y’know? I always knew Dad was religious, so is Aunt Iris. But she talks about this stuff, she’s openly supportive. With Dad… I just never knew. I couldn’t read him. He’d always get quiet and make a face when anything to do with queer… stuff came up, but he never actually said anything against it. I thought that maybe in time he’d be a little better, and I could tell him but – I just wasn’t ready for _that_.”

Dick’s frown creased. “Things like this shouldn’t happen anymore.”

“That’s the problem,” Wally looked up at him, the angle turning him upside down. “You legalise same-sex marriage in a few states and suddenly homophobia is over. That’s what people think. And then when problems do come up, they get ignored.”

Dick quirked a brow down at him. “When did you become all philosophical about this stuff?”

Wally grinned. “I told you, I’ve been going to the GSRC.”

The conversation drifted off, with enough having been said about Wally’s situation for the time being. There were more important things to discuss anyway; like how Wally could _so_ outrun Superman, and who K.O’d the most baddies on their latest mission, and whether or not aliens were real.

“Dude, two of our best friends are a Martian and a Kryptonian.”

“No, but I mean like – _alien_ aliens.”

Their talk of stars and constellations soon had them both lulled and content, yawning zodiacs as they shamelessly snuggled under the covers. They fell asleep at five in the morning, tangled up in each other, feeling _safe_ in their nest of sheets and Christmas lights. It was after noon before they woke up. Alfred made waffles, with no comment on why Wally had spent the night. Bruce would have told him the situation, but there was no mention of it.

Wally had ten missed calls from home from the morning alone. He didn’t call back. Not yet. Instead, he and Dick returned to their blanket fort for the remainder of the afternoon, moving on to The Legend of Zelda and Tony Hawk: Underground. Jason ended up worming his way in for an hour to play decimate them both at Mario Party. The boy was two years younger than Dick, and had only been around for a few months, but if Wally hadn’t known any better, he’d think they were blood brothers. They certainly fought like it. The invitation to join their game had, at one point, been offered to Bruce as he passed down the hall, to which the off-duty Dark Knight just scoffed in amusement and walked away.

And Wally took in every single one of these moments, these details, because it meant another distraction from the “Missed Call” notification glaring at him from his phone. It was only by the late afternoon, when Barry Allen’s contact flashed – pun excused – onto the screen, that Wally finally gave in.

“Hey Kid,” Barry greeted before Wally had the chance to speak. “Bruce called me.”

Of course he did. Wally sighed, sending a grateful look to Dick when he sent Jason away and muted the game. “Right. Please don’t say you’re sorry.”

“I won’t,” said Barry, though it was clear in his tone that he was. “Listen, why don’t you come stay with me and your Aunt for a few days. She’s over at your house – talking to your folks right now.” Translating, of course, to unleashing hellfire on her brother. It was a wonder Barry wasn’t there himself to put the fear of the Flash into him – though to be honest, Iris was probably scarier. “We won’t make you talk to them, but we’ll – figure something out.”

Wally took a moment to think it over. As much as he would love to stay with Dick, he knew he’d have to go back to Central City eventually. “Thanks, Uncle Barry.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

So, Wally stayed with the Allens for the next week. He had pretty much taken over the guest bedroom anyway, had clothes and a phone charger and shampoo there for the thousand times he’d crashed there after patrol. He had no direct contact with his parents that entire time, though according to Aunt Iris, his father had regretted throwing him out from the moment he shut the door behind him – Wally wasn’t sure how much of that he believed.

Regardless, after the week was up, Wally’s parents came to the Allen house. A sort of neutral meeting ground, Iris had told him. By the end of the night, Wally was back in his own bedroom. Crashing onto the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling. He'd been gone only seven days and already the room smelled stale, dust floating in the moon beams under his window. The house was entirely too quiet to breathe properly. Hoping to distract himself, Wally slipped his phone out of his pocket. Dick had already texted him.

How did it go? DG

Alright. WW

Mom was a mess. I felt bad, she was just sort of in shock when it first happened. Tried to get me and Dad to stop shouting at each other, but she wasn’t exactly on my side at the time either. Still, she was sorry. WW

Dad was – actually pretty upset. He wasn’t crying or anything, but his eyes were all red and puffy. Never seen him like that. He seemed pretty genuine when he apologised. We hugged it out. WW

And? DG

And there wasn’t a damn word said about the whole queer thing. WW

Like they won’t acknowledge it? DG

Yeah. They just said they were sorry for the way they reacted, and they wanted me to come home, and they loved me and all that junk. WW

Ah. DG

Now it’s just awkward as fuck. I could cut the tension with a plasma laser. WW

I mean, at least I know they don’t hate me. WW

It’ll get better. DG

Want to spend a night over here again? DG

Nah, I feel like I should spend a few nights at home after this week. It’ll just make things worse if I’m leaving right away. I'll survive. Next weekend? WW

Done. DG

Mind putting up that blanket fort again? WW

Who said I ever took it down? DG

 


End file.
